A new study released yesterday by the Racial Diversity Collaborative and the Urban Institute points out that 92 percent of national nonprofits headquartered in Washington, DC are led by white executive directors.

Shocking? Probably not.

Newsworthy? Absolutely.

A related Baltimore Sun story declares as a matter of fact: “Minority leadership lagging at nonprofits.” This fact is of course well-known within the nonprofit sector and has been for quite some time. Now, it’s just becoming even more well-documented with similar studies in New York and California published recently as well.

In a time when the face of America is rapidly changing, the face of nonprofit leadership on the whole is certainly not changing at the same pace. For a sector that is known for serving, and in many cases, “empowering” racially diverse communities, we have not made much progress when it comes to seeking out…

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Emily Heard’s recent post on the Board Life Matters blog, “Why Don’t More Members of Gens X and Y Join Boards?” sparked quite a bit of discussion and speculation on the reasons why young people are so underrepresented on nonprofit boards of directors.

But Ms. Heard’s post sparked another, more pressing question for me. Do nonprofit boards really want younger members? If you go by the numbers, the answer is a resounding “no.” BoardSource’s 2007 Nonprofit Governance Index found that only 2 percent of board members were under 30 years old.

The “under 30″ focus is really important to note because that age bracket encompasses all of Generation Y, the largest generational demographic behind the Baby Boomers at 80 million strong. Which means that there are a lot of young people out there who can be recruited for board service. But just because there are a lot of Gen Y’ers out there, doesn’t…

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The Boys & Girls Clubs of America has come under fire for paying its CEO nearly $1-million in 2008.

According to The Chronicle, “Four Republican senators have asked Boys & Girls Clubs of America to provide details about what it spends on executive compensation, lobbying, perks, travel, and other items” and have said that “they wanted the answers so they could consider changes to Senate legislation that would provide $425-million to the youth organization over five years.”

The senators’ biggest beef with the Boys & Girls Clubs is that chief executive officer Roxanne Spillett earned more than $900,000 in compensation in 2008, amidst a backdrop of a tough economic climate in which “local Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide close their doors due to budget shortfalls.”

You would think that large nonprofit groups like the Boys & Girls Clubs would know by now that paying out near-million-dollar…

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Michelle Davis is the Executive Director of Nonprofit Connect (NP Connect), a membership organization and source for nonprofit professionals, volunteers, students, funders and businesses seeking opportunities to network, learn and grow. I interviewed Ms. Davis virtually to find out more about NP Connect’s new Job Club and why the organization is supporting potential sector switchers in Kansas City.

Rosetta Thurman: When and why did NP Connect start the Job Club? What was the catalyst?

Michelle Davis: There are about 30 job clubs in the metropolitan Kansas City area. I was receiving requests to speak at multiple clubs about working in the nonprofit sector, which spurred me to question whether or not job seekers would come to a job club dedicated solely to the nonprofit sector. Our staff was also getting lots of calls from job seekers who wanted to meet with us individually for career…

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Last week, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced the appointment of Rosyln M. Brock as the organization’s new board chair. Julian Bond stepped down as chairman after 12 years of service and touted Ms. Brock’s appointment as “dynamic new leadership.” At 44, Ms. Brock is the youngest ever and fourth woman to serve as chair of the NAACP’s Board of Directors, great strides for a 64-member board of directors that leans heavily on the male side and whose average age is 58.

But let’s just run the numbers for a minute here. Ms. Brock is hardly “new” leadership for the NAACP board, having been vice chair for the past nine years. And if all the hoopla seems like déjà vu, that’s because it is.

A year and a half ago, I wrote about Mr. Bond’s announcement that he was stepping down as chairman of the NAACP’s board after 10 years, although he would still remain on…

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Welcome to Leading Edge! I’m Rosetta Thurman and I’m the President of Thurman Consulting, a consulting firm that provides speaking, training, consulting and writing services to organizations working for social change. My specialties include social media, leadership development, and diversity and inclusion.

I’ve been working in the nonprofit world for almost eight years, and I’m proud to be a young nonprofit leader of color. I also enjoy teaching nonprofit management and leadership as an adjunct professor in the School of Professional Studies at Trinity University in Washington, DC. In 2008, I was honored as a “New Leader in Philanthropy” by Greater DC Cares. When I’m not working, I write poetry, cook fancy food and listen to old school jams.

For the past three years, I’ve been writing about nonprofit groups, leadership, and social change on my blog at rosettathurman.com. It started out a…

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